The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Early Learning." Contents include: (1) Current Proposals for Texas' Investment…

With the 2016 presidential election right around the corner, geography provides a dynamic view of the spatial patterns and processes that shape the electorate. The major presidential campaigns know that a winning strategy must use geography to make informed decisions about where to allocate limited resources such as money and staff. In the end,…

Ask any elementary teacher to discuss the obstacles they face when trying to implement inquiry-based science teaching and you?re sure to hear hands-on materials mentioned. Where to get supplies and how to pay for them, how to organize and store the materials, and how to distribute the materials efficiently during the lessons are constant…

A policy of reducing class size seems sensible, but might have costly, far-reaching implications for students, teachers, and public support for schools. The purpose of this research brief is to summarize 100 class size research studies from 1950 to 1985 and to regroup them into 18 areas of concern. The cluster analysis approach was designed to…

Presents background information on the Homestead Act of 1862 and includes a set of suggested teaching activities to be used in conjunction with replicas of original documents. The Homestead Act provided free land to settlers and was instrumental in settling the west. Includes replicas of an application and certificate. (MJP)

This collection of papers, the fifth in an annual series, presents views of members of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education on improving teaching and learning in higher education settings. Articles and their authors are as follows: "Reflections of a Practitioner: Ten Years of Professional and Organization…

Considers the global effects of a rapidly growing population combined with dwindling natural resources and how these issues might be addressed in the classroom. Includes a population education lesson plan, guiding principles, list of resources, and suggested activities. (MJP)

This review summarizes and analyzes the body of research on the characteristics of effective schools in addition to early input-output research, which implied that the determinants of student achievement lay chiefly outside the control of the schools. Chapter 1 discusses patterns in the results of input-output studies, including research…

This guide is based on a research study, "Successful Bilingual Education Programs: Development and Dissemination of Criteria to Identify Promising/Exemplary Practices in Bilingual Education at the National Level." The guide presents an analytic rubric for evaluating a school's success in educating English language learners. The rubric assesses…

This teacher's instructional guide, which is part of a family and consumer sciences education series focusing on a broad range of employment opportunities, is intended to assist teachers responsible for teaching one- and two-year management programs for Texas high school students. The following are among the items included: (1) introductory…